Sun
Hong-Lei has quickly become one of the most dynamic
and versatile actors to emerge from the Mainland
in recent years. He was born on August 16, 1970
in Harbin, where he developed an interest in performing
at a young age. Often skipping school to learn breakdancing
on the streets*, Sun eventually gave up his studies
entirely to pursue dancing and performed with a
modern dance troupe for a couple of years. He later
became a popular local nightclub singer and host
before setting his sights on acting. In 1995, Sun
attempted to get into the famed Central Academy
of Drama (the alma mater of the likes of Gong Li,
Zhang Ziyi and Jiang Wen), but was told by the instructor
that he was too fat. He was finally accepted after
he lost 18 kg in one month by running 25 laps a
day around the academy fields. Sun graduated in
1997 and has since gone on to star in numerous TV
dramas and films and has won many awards for his
stage work.

Sun's
film debut was in Zhang Yimou's The Road Home
(2000), in which he played the grown son of
Zhang Ziyi's character and also served as the narrator.
Zhang reportedly cast him because he didn't look
like an actor, which Sun later realized was actually
the ultimate compliment, though he had been insulted
at the time. Next he romanced Gong Li in Zhou
Yu's Train (2002) and rumours have been flying
ever since that they became an item offscreen as
well (both deny this). Sun recently took on the
role of Fire-Wind, the main villain in Tsui Hark's
Seven Swords (2005), with many critics singling
out his performance as the best in the film. He
is currently in talks to work with Tsui again, possibly
in a prequel to Seven Swords or a comedy.
(Yinique 2005)

*This actually paid off when he won
at the first ever Heilongjiang province-wide breakdancing
competition. Sun later entered the national competition
and took home second prize.